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Viruses
Special Issues
Epidemiology of Foodborne Viral Diseases
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Epidemiology of Foodborne Viral Diseases

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 1939

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Valentina Terio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Strada Provinciale per Casamassima Km 3, Valenzano, 70010 Bari, Italy
Interests: foodborne viruses; waterborne viruses; enteroviruses; food safety; food microbiology; risk assessment; food hygiene; biomolecular diagnostic methods; Hepatitis A; Hepatitis E; norovirus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Gianvito Lanave

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
Interests: viral infections, including enteric viruses in human and animals and zoonotic infections; research conducted in collaboration with European and extra-European scientists
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Annamaria Pandiscia

E-Mail
Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Strada Provinciale per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Italy
Interests: foodborne viruses; waterborne viruses; enteroviruses; food safety; food microbiology; risk assessment; food hygiene; viability assays; Hepatitis A; Hepatitis E; norovirus

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human norovirus and hepatitis A virus are the most common foodborne viruses, which are transmitted via the consumption of raw food. Rotavirus is one of the major causes of diarrhea in children and Hepatitis E is recognized as an emerging viral agent and includes zoonotic transmission via pork products. Adenovirus, Astrovirus, Sapovirus, tick borne encephalitis and Avian Influenza H5N1 may also cause viral infections where food is a vector.

Risk assessment for foodborne viruses requires the development and availability of specific and sensitive analytical systems to evaluate the potential hazard for public health of contaminated food. In the last few years, innovative and sensitive molecular methods have been developed for the detection of these viruses. Rapid and sensitive robust detection methods are therefore needed to prevent food recalls and outbreaks. As the most relevant foodborne viruses are RNA viruses, reverse-transcription (RT) PCR has reportedly been the ‘gold standard’ for their detection. Standardization of RT-qPCR methods has allowed for the monitoring of enteric viruses in food and water samples (e.g., ISO TS 15216-1 and ISO TS 15216-2). Different viability assays have been performed to better understand the relationship between RT-qPCR signals and virus infectivity. However, further scientific studies are necessary to determine the best standard analytical method. Advances in this field are expected to impact the food production/testing industry and regulatory agencies alike.

EU regulations do not provide indications for the virological risks. The implementation of knowledge about the prevalence of foodborne viruses in food could represent a contribution for assessing consumer exposure.

In this Special Issue, we will present the more relevant advances in epidemiology, development and/or improvement of rapid methods for the detection and/or identification of foodborne and waterborne viruses, and where possible, assessment of their infectivity.

Dr. Valentina Terio
Dr. Gianvito Lanave
Guest Editors

Dr. Annamaria Pandiscia
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • emerging foodborne viruses
  • HAV
  • HEV
  • NoV
  • enteric viruses
  • molecular methods
  • food safety
  • risk assessment
  • food hygiene

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1516 KiB  
Article
Duplex Droplet Digital PCR Assay for Quantification of Hepatitis E Virus in Food
by Gianfranco La Bella, Maria Grazia Basanisi, Gaia Nobili, Anna Mattea D’Antuono, Elisabetta Suffredini and Giovanna La Salandra
Viruses 2024, 16(3), 413; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16030413 - 07 Mar 2024
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Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) represents an emerging risk in industrialized countries where the consumption of contaminated food plays a pivotal role. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) is one of the most suitable methods for the detection and quantification of viruses in food. Nevertheless, quantification [...] Read more.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) represents an emerging risk in industrialized countries where the consumption of contaminated food plays a pivotal role. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) is one of the most suitable methods for the detection and quantification of viruses in food. Nevertheless, quantification using RT-qPCR has limitations. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) provides the precise quantification of nucleic acids without the need for a standard curve and a reduction in the effect on virus quantification due to the presence of inhibitors. The objectives of the present work were (i) to develop a method for the absolute quantification of HEV in swine tissues based on ddPCR technology and provide internal process control for recovery assessment and (ii) to evaluate the performance of the method by analyzing a selection of naturally contaminated wild boar muscle samples previously tested using RT-qPCR. The method was optimized using a set of in vitro synthesized HEV RNA and quantified dsDNA. The limit of detection of the developed ddPCR assay was 0.34 genome copies/µL. The analysis of the wild boar samples confirmed the validity of the ddPCR assay. The duplex ddPCR method showed no reduction in efficiency compared to individual assays. The method developed in the present study could represent a sensitive assay for the detection and absolute quantification of HEV RNA in food samples with the advantage of presenting the co-amplification of internal process control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Epidemiology of Foodborne Viral Diseases)
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21 pages, 2632 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Gastroenteric Viruses in Marketed Bivalve Mollusks in the Tourist Cities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2022
by Carina Pacheco Cantelli, Guilherme Caetano Lanzieri Tavares, Sylvia Kahwage Sarmento, Fernanda Marcicano Burlandy, Tulio Machado Fumian, Adriana Gonçalves Maranhão, Emanuelle de Souza Ramalho Ferreira da Silva, Marco Aurélio Pereira Horta, Marize Pereira Miagostovich, Zhihui Yang and José Paulo Gagliardi Leite
Viruses 2024, 16(3), 317; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16030317 - 20 Feb 2024
Viewed by 821
Abstract
This study investigated the prevalence and genetic diversity of gastroenteric viruses in mussels and oysters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One hundred and thirty-four marketed bivalve samples were obtained between January and December 2022. The viral analysis was performed according to ISO/TS 15216, [...] Read more.
This study investigated the prevalence and genetic diversity of gastroenteric viruses in mussels and oysters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One hundred and thirty-four marketed bivalve samples were obtained between January and December 2022. The viral analysis was performed according to ISO/TS 15216, and the screening revealed the detection of norovirus GII/GI (40.3%), sapovirus (SaV; 12.7%), human mastadenovirus (7.5%), and rotavirus A (RVA; 5.9%). In total, 44.8% (60) of shellfish samples tested positive for one or more viruses, 46.7% (28/60) of the positive samples tested positive for a single viral agent, 26.7% (16) tested positive for two viral agents, 8.3% (5) for three viral agents, and 13.3% (8) for four viral agents. Additionally, three mussel samples were contaminated with the five investigated viruses (5%, 3/60). Norovirus GII showed the highest mean viral load (3.4 × 105 GC/g), followed by SaV (1.4 × 104 GC/g), RVA (1.1 × 104 GC/g), human mastadenovirus (3.9 × 103 GC/g), and norovirus GI (6.7 × 102 GC/g). Molecular characterization revealed that the recovered norovirus strains belonged to genotypes GII.2, GII.6, GII.9, GII.17, and GII.27; SaV belonged to genotypes GI.1 and GIV.1; RVA to genotypes G6, G8, P[8]-III, and human mastadenovirus to types F40 and F41. The GII.27 norovirus characterized in this study is the only strain of this genotype reported in Brazil. This study highlights the dissemination and diversity of gastroenteric viruses present in commercialized bivalves in a touristic area, indicating the potential risk to human health and the contribution of bivalves in the propagation of emerging pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Epidemiology of Foodborne Viral Diseases)
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